Window cleaning device



cfH. KREIDLER l WINDOW CLEANING DEVICE March 6, v1962 2 ,Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 15, 1960A March 6, 1962 C. H. KREIDLER 3,023,442

WINDOW CLEANING DEVICE v lll W B 4 Jy# 5 0 ZMQS.

3,023,442 WINDOW CLEANER; DEVECE Carl H. Kreidler, 7 01 Maple Ave., La Porte, ind. Filed June 15, 1960, Ser. No. 36,4l9 4 Claims. (Cl. 15-220) The present invention relates to window cleaning devices and has particular reference to an improved and novel portable hand tool or mechanism by means of which the outside surface of a glass window pane may effectively be cleaned from a position on the inside of the window sash with facility and without subjecting the user to the dangers which ordinarily are incident to this character of work.

There are at present upon the market devices which enable the outer surfaces of the Windows of a building to be cleaned from within the building, such devices generally consisting of a U-shaped frame having a handle member connected with one of the leg portions of the frame and a Window scrubbing element carried by the other leg portion, with the bight portion of the frame being adapted to straddle the bottom rail of the window sash so that pressure may be applied to the outer surface of the window pane by an inward pull on the handle. Where the scrubbing element is not adjustable for height on the outer leg of the frame, the device linds limited application and is useable only in connection with window sashes of small height. To accommodate the cleaning of large window sashes possessing considerable height, such frames have been devised wherein the cleaning element is vertically adjustable on the outer leg of the frame. To effect the adjustment it is necessary either to withdraw the device from its position of use and make the necessary adjustments from time to time, or to provide a power train through or along the U-shaped frame so that the necessary adjustments may be made from within the building without requiring withdrawal of the frame into the building. The first of these procedures is time-consuming while the second is costly from the standpoint of manufacture since pulleys, gears, levers and other actuating devices are required, While additionally the fact that mechanical motion must be transmitted around two right angle corners is conducive toward failure due to sticking of parts, slippage, lack of adequate leverage or torque, etc. As a consequence such devices have not been altogether satisfactory, nor have they met with favor.

The present invention is designed to overcome the above-noted limitations that are attendant upon the construction and use of conventional window cleaning devices and, toward this end, the invention contemplates the provision of a novel and eifective window cleaning device of the general type brieiiy outlined above wherein the operative pane-engaging cleaning element is adjustably mounted on the outer leg of the U-shaped frame and is capable of being adjusted vertically along the leg by simple manipulations on the part of the operator, utilizing only the fixed handle grip associated with the device, and without requiring a power train or any connection whatsoever between the cleaning element on the outside of the window sash and any part of the device on the inside of the sash other than the Xed bight portion of the U-shaped frame.

It is a further object of the invention, in a window cleaning device of this general character, to provide a cleaning element proper which is readily reversible on the outer leg of the U-shaped frame and which, upon reversal thereof, may be converted from the performance of a scrubbing function to the performance of a drying and polishing function and vice versa.

The provision of a window cleaning device of this general character which is relatively simple in its construction and which may therefore be manufactured at a rel- 3,Z3,442 Patented Mar. 6, 1962 atively low cost; one which is comprised of a minimum number of moving parts and which therefore is unlikely to get out of order; one which is rugged and durable and which therefore may be subjected to rough usage; one which is capable of ease of assembly and disassembly for purposes of inspection of parts, replacement or repair; one which is attractive in its appearance and pleasing in its design; one which is completely independent of the window frame or other portion of the building, and which therefore is of a portable nature; one in which the cleaning element proper thereof is readily removable from the retainer in which it is disposed for purposes of rinsing, or reversal thereof, or for replacement purposes; and one which, otherwise, is Well adapted to perform the services required of it, are further desirable features which have `been borne in mind in the production and development of the present invention.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent as the following description ensues.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, one illustrative embodiment of theinvention has been shown.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of a window cleaning device embodying the principles of the present invention and showing the same operatively applied to a window sash;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary rear elevational view of a cleaning unit assembly employed in connection with the invention, together with a portion of the supporting -frame therefor;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the structure shown in FIG. 2 with certain parts being broken away to more clearly reveal the nature of the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing the parts in a different position;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-6 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 7-'7 of FIG. l.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIG. l, a glass window pane which is to be cleaned is designated at 10', its lower sash rail at 12, and the side stiles of the sash at 13. The sash 12 is vertically slidable in a frame (not shown) and is adapted to be manually lowered and raised in a well known manner toward and away from the usual sill 14.

The window cleaning device is designated in its entirety at i6 and it involves in its general organization two principal parts or assemblies, namely a frame assembly 18 and a cleaning unit assembly 2G. The frame assembly includes a generally U-shaped frame bar 22, preferably formed of a light weight metal such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy, and having parallel leg portions 24 and 26, and a connecting bight portion 23. The leg portion 24 is somewhat longer than the leg portion 26 and has slidably mounted thereon the cleaning unit assembly 20. The leg portion 26 carries a handle grip 30. When the frame assembly is in an operative position, the bight portion 28 is adapted to extend beneath the sash l2 so that the leg portion 24 extends vertically for application of the cleaning unit assembly 2@ to the outer face of the glass pane l0. The handle grip 30 may be in the form of a conventional tubular bicycle handlebar grip of elastomeric material and which is telescoped over the end of the leg portion 26. Application of inward pressure to the grip 30 will serve to apply the cleaning unit 2t? to the surface of the pane 10 in the usual manner or operation of devices of this general character.

-By proper manipulation of the grip 30, the device 16 as a whole may be guided in its movements for properly and eiectively cleaning the outer face of the pane by the traversing thereof by the cleaning unit 20. ln order that 'the cleaning unit 20 may operate at different levels or elevations along the pane 10, the unit 20 is capable of vertical adjustment Valongthe leg portion 24 of the frame bar l22. Accordingly, the inside face of the lleg 24 is provided withe'a series of vertically arranged and Vpreferably equally-spaced, notchesor indentations 32. These notches are designed for cooperation with a releasablc detent or dog 34 associated withthe cleaning unit 20 and the nature and function of which will be set lforth in detail presently.

Referring now additionally to FIGS. 2 to 6 inclusive, the cleaning unit assembly 20 comprises a three piece casing-like structure including a lguide sleeve 40 (see particularly FIG. 6), a central housing 42 and a box-like 'retainer 44, the'three parts being soldered, welded, brazed or otherwise secured together. If desired these parts may be integrally formed but the three piece construction lends itself to economy of manufacture from available stock materials. The casing-like structure 40, 42, 44 constitutes, in effect, a holder for a composite cleaning element or fpad 45, the nature and f-unction of which will be set lforth subsequently.

The guide sleeve 40 is of tubular design and it preferably has a non-circular cross sectional configuration conformable to that of the leg portion 24. The sleeve portion 40 is telescopically received over the leg portion 24 and with a loose tit so that the sleeve portion 4u is freely slidable on the leg portion 24 but is incapable of Iotational movements with respect thereto.

"Ihetcentral housing 42 is likewise of tubular design and it is approximately square in transverse cross section as best seen in FIG. 6 and is provided with front and rear walls 50 and 52 respectively,'and side walls 54 and 56. Suspended within the housing 42 from a pair of opposed holes 58 provided inthe side walls 54 and 56, by means of trunnion ears 60, is the previously mentioned detent or dog 34. This detent is in the formof a strip of at metal stock having oneend region turned laterally as at62 and designed for cooperation with the various indentations 32 provided in the leg portion 24 of the frame bar 22. Toward this end, the detent 34 projects downwardly through the lower open end of the housing 42 as clearly shown in FIG. 4.

The detent or dog 34 is normally yieldingly urged into engagement with the side of the leg portion 24 of the frame bar 22 by means of a helical spring 64 which surrounds a oating pull rod 66, one end of which passes through a notch 70 provided in the lower end of a lever 72 and the other end of which passes through a slot 74 provided in the detent 34. The rod 66 also passes through ahole :75 in the front wall 50 of the housing 42. The ends 'of the rod 66 are provided with enlarged heads 76 and 78 respectively. A washer 80 surrounds the rod 66 and is interposed between the head 78 and the lower notched end of the lever 72.

The lever 72 is in the form of an'elongated strip of 'sheet metal stock Yand the lower forked end thereof is turned at a slight angle to the general plane of the lever as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. A guide pin 82 secured to the lever 72 passes through a slot 84 formed in the wall 50 and prevents lateral 'shifting of the lever. The upper extreme upper end region of the lever 72 is designed for engagement with an actuating rod 86, the function of 'which is to trip the detent 34 as will be described presently.

The retainer 44 is preferably formed of sheet metal and of open-sided box-like conguration as shown in FIG. 6. lts rear or backing wall 100 is welded or otherwise secured to the wall 50 of the housing-4`2 and it is provided with lside llanges 102 and `104 respectively, and inturned guide flanges 106 and '108 respectively. The front side of the structure is open.

The actuating rod 86 extends generally horizontally below the lower end of the retainer 44 and has one end thereof turned upwardly as at 110 (FIG. 3) and rotatably journalled in a bracket 112 secured to the rear wall 100 of the retainer 44. The other end region of the rod 86 passes through a slot 11-4 (FIGS. l and 5) provided in the side iiange 102 and is turned downwardly as at 116 to provide a trip iinger which projects below the level of the retainer 44 and assumes an exposed position exteriorly ofthe latter. The trip linger 116 carries a resilient -trip button 11-8 at the distal end thereof.

The retainer 44 is adapted removably to receive thereon the previously mentioned composite replaceable cleaning element proper or pad 45. The cleaning element 45 may be in the form of a rectilinear block-like section 122 of an absorbent media such as cellulosic sponge stock, together with a sheet o'f chamois material 124 which may be stitched or otherwise secured to one face of the cellulose section 122. The sides of the pad 45 are grooved as at 126 'midway between the ilat faces of the pad for sliding retention of the element -in the retainer with the guide llanges 106 and 10S projecting into the grooves 126 and with one face ofthe pad bearing against the backing wall 100. The pad 45 is thus reversible in the retainer for scrubbing or drying and polishing operations as desired. In the operation of the device I8-, the cleaning element or pad 45 may be initially suds-moistened or otherwise prepare-d for use and inserted in the retainer 44, or it may be thus prepared while already mounted in the retainer. The cleaning unit assembly Z0 is then slid along Ithe leg portion 24 of lthe framel 22 until the upper edge of the rim of the .guide sleeve 40 engages the stop screw V128, at which time the detent'34 will enter and seat within the uppermost notch 32 provided in the leg portion 24. The device `is then manipulated into a position similar to that illustrated in FIG. l and the handle vgrip 30 manipulated'to cause the sponge section 122 of the pad 4S to 'traverse the upper region of the window pane 10, in the usual manner of manipulation of devices of this 4general nature and as previously described. When the upper regions of the `glass pane 10 have thus been scrubbed, it is not necessary to withdraw the device into 'the building enclosure and, instead, the device may be fmanipulated to cause the trip button 118 to engage one of thestiles 13 ofthe window sash, or it may be caused to engage an outside sash lining Ior lother 'stationary part of the building which acts as a reaction surface for the trip button. Depression of the trip button will cause the actuating 'rod to swing about the axis of the upturned end 110 thereof and the medial region of the rod to engage the upper end of the lever 72as shown in FIG. 5, thus causing the Vlever to 'tilt about the fulcrum aiorded 'adjacent the notched end 70 thereof 'and pry, so to speak, the pull rod 70 forwardly to release the detent 34 from the notch 32 in which it is seated. At this time the weight of the cleaning unit will cause. the same to become lowered on the leg portion 24 -of the frame 22 under the inuenee of gravity until such timeas the detent 34 (now released and urged forwardly under the influence of the spring 64) encounters and enters the next succeeding notch 32 below the uppermost notch. The device vmay again 'be l'manipulated to'cause the cleaning unit 20 to `traverse a medial region'of the glass pane 10, after which the trip button 118 may uagain be actuated in the manner previously described to cause the 'cleaning unit 20 to seek the next lower elevation on the leg portion 24 of which it is capable of assuming.

After the cleaning unit has been caused to traverse the glass pane 10 at its lowermost elevation on the leg portion 24 with the detent 34 seated in the lowermost notch 32, the device may be withdrawn into the-enclosure of the building and the cleaning element proper reversed in the retainer 44 so 'that the chamois layer 124 opposes the glass pane 10 when the device is again projected 4through the window opening. The operation of the device as described above is repeated during the drying or polishing operation.

It is to be noted at this point that due partly to the angle at which the laterally turned portion 62 of the detent 34 is inclined relatively to the axis of the leg portion 24 of the frame bar 22, and partly to the fact that the various notches 32 are provided with upper inclined sides and horizontal bottom sides, free movement of the cleaning unit assembly 20 is of a unidirectional nature. Thus the unit may manually be slid upwardly on the leg portion 24 but its downward movement under the inuence of lgravity is limited as the detent enters each notch. It is also to be noted that the distance Ibetween adjacent notches 32 is slightly less than the overall height of the cleaning element proper or pad 45 so that there will be a slight overlapping of the areas on the glass pane which are successively worked from top to bottom.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Only insofar as the invention has particularly been pointed out in the accompanying claims is the same to be limited.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A window cleaning device comprising an elongated frame member substantially of U-shape and having two spaced upwardly extending leg portions connected together by a bight portion, one of said leg portions being adapted for positioning on the inner side of a window and constituting a manipulating handle for the device as a Whole, the other .leg portion being adapted for positioning on the outer side of the window, said bight portion being adapted to pass beneath the window sash when the window is nearly in its closed position, a holder for a cleaning element slidably mounted on said other leg portion, a cleaning element carried by said holder and engageable with the outer surface of the window, said other leg portion being provided with a series of vertically spaced indentations, a yieldable detent movably mounted on the holder and selectively engageable with said indentations for locking said holder in selected positions of vertical adjustment along said other leg portion, a depressable trip nger movably mounted on the holder and operatively connected to the detent, said trip finger being operable upon depression thereof to release said detent means, said trip linger having a portion thereof exposed exteriorly of the holder and designed upon manipulation of the device for engagement with a ixed reaction surface exteriorly of the window to cause depression of the trip finger.

2. A window cleaning device as set forth in claim 1 and wherein the vertical distance between adjacent indentations on said other leg portion of the frame member is slightly less than the effective height of the cleaning element.

3. A window cleaning device comprising an elongated frame member substantially of U-shape and having two spaced upwardly extending leg portions connected together by a bight portion, one of said leg portions being adapted for positioning on the inner side of a window and constituting a manipulating handle for the device as a whole, the other leg portion being adapted for positioning on .the outer side of the window, said bight portion being adapted to pass beneath the window sash when the window is nearly in its closed position, a holder for a cleaning element mounted for free downward sliding movement vertically on said other leg portion under the inuence of gravity, a cleaning element carried by said holder and engageable with the outer surface of the window, said other leg portion being provided with a series of vertically spaced indentations, a releasable detent pivoted on said holder and movable between a retracted inoperative position and an advanced indentation-engaging position, spring means normally urging said detent toward its advanced position, a depressable trip linger movably mounted on the holder and operatively connected to the detent, said trip finger being operable upon depression thereof to move said trip finger to its retracted position against the action of said spring means, said trip linger having a portion thereof exposed exteriorly of the holder and designed upon manipulation of the device for engagement with a fixed reaction surface exteriorly of the window to cause depression of the trip linger.

4. A window cleaning device comprising an elongated frame member substantially of U-shape and having two spaced upwardly extending leg portions connected together by a bight portion, one of said leg portions being adapted for positioning on the inner side of a window and constitu-ting a manipulating handle for the device as a whole, the other leg portion being adapted for positioning on the outer side of the window, said bight portion being adapted to pass beneath the window sash when the window is nearly in its closed position, a holder for a cleaning element mounted for free downward sliding movement vertically on said other leg portion under the influence of gravity, a cleaning element carried by said holder and engageable with the outer surface of the window, said other leg portion being provided with a series of vertically spaced indentations, a releasable detent pivoted on said holder and movable between a retracted inoperative position and an advanced operative indentation-engaging position, spring means normally urging said detent towards its advanced position, a pull rod slidable in the holder and having one end thereof connected to the detent, a lever mounted on said holder for rocking movement and having one leg operatively connected to the pull rod, a trip finger pivoted to the holder and having an end thereof exposed exteriorly of the holder for engagement with a fixed reaction surface exteriorly of the window upon manipulation of the device as a whole, said lever having another leg positioned in the path of movement of said trip finger and being operable upon engagement by said trip linger to actuate said pull rod and move said detent to its retracted position against the action of said spring means to release said holder for downward movement along said other leg under the inlluence of gravity.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,534,966 Kilfeather Apr. 21, 1925 1,665,727 Campbell Apr. l0, 1928 2,864,114 Schostal Dec. 16, 1958 

